Journalism and politics

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Blacklisting consultation begins

I'm off to leafy Cheshire next week to cover the sentencing of Ian Kerr of The Consulting Association - found guilty of data protection breaches by running a secret blacklist of trade union members.And yesterday Lord Mandelson unveiled the government's short sharp consultation which should lead to this practice being outlawed.It is a year since my article on blacklisting prompted the investigation by the Infomation Commissioner's Office; six years since the government last consulted and found no evidence, ten years since the original employment legislation was introduced but with the blacklisting clause held in abeyance and 90 years since the Economic League was founded which turned the blacklisting of 'subversives' into an industrial-sized operation.The main proposals are:To make it unlawful for organisations to refuse employment or sack individuals as a result of appearing on a blacklist; to make it unlawful for employment agencies to refuse to provide a service on the basis of appearing on a blacklist; and to enable individuals or unions to pursue compensation or solicit
action against those who compile, distribute or use blacklists.There is a clause exempting journalists who obtain blacklists as part of exposing their existence.

Here are some comments on yesterday's announcement:The Daily Mirror queries why this has taken so longThe Guardian links the story with a report calling for increased regulation to stop people being killed at work. An issue I covered for them back in 2007.Over at Personnel Today they set up a head-to-head on the issue between Ben Willmott, senior public policy adviser at the CIPD,
and Michael Gorrill, head of the Regulatory Action Division at
the Information Commissioner's Office. An interesting way of covering the story.Ian Manborde asks whether simply making laws is enough to eradicate blacklisting. This is something I believe Mandelson has acknowledged - that the process could be shipped overseas. That's not a reason for doing nothing though; that's a reason for making a start on the bits you can fix quickly.The TUC are happy, UCATT also pleased but add: "We are
disappointed that the consultation document fails to recommend any compensation
for existing victims of blacklists.”